1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to means for producing a force at the surface of an object in response to human action, and while the concepts of the invention will be shown to be applicable in many areas, the present description concentrates mainly on drums and drumming.
2. Description of Related Art
Many parts of the equipment described in the following text involve use of components and circuitry supplied by RS Components Limited. These are referred to by means of RS Stock Numbers. Also, some of the circuit and other diagrams are either wholly from RS originals or are modified versions of the originals and are reproduced by permission of RS Components Ltd. Where this applies, reference to RS Components is made. Other equipment is similarly described and its source acknowledged. A full Stock Number listing and acknowledgment is made at the end of the text.
The Drum is one of the oldest musical instruments, and is a basic requirement in any music. Drummers put "energy", into playing, and the conventional drum-kit is played using all four limbs to strike at various drums and cymbals in a varied and coordinated series of beats.
The basic drum-kit consists of a medium sized drum, called a snare drum, a tom tom, and a set of cymbals, all of which are played by means of a stick in each hand. Another drum, called a bass drum, is the largest drum and has a loud booming sound. This drum is usually played on its side and is struck with a beater/mallet which is operated by one foot by means of a foot pedal which is attached to the rim of the drum. The other foot brings about the rise and fall of the top cymbal of a pair of cymbals via another foot pedal mechanism in an instrument known as a hi-hat.
In order to play the equipment skillfully, it is necessary for the drummer to be seated, and the area around him that can be reached with the hands and feet while still seated, is known as the Critical Performance Area (CPA).
The very first drum kit was probably no more than a bass drum and a snare drum. Eventually, a small tom-tom was secured to the bass drum, and then two. Gradually, tom-toms became larger and bass drums became smaller.
Since those humble beginnings, the modern professional drum-kit has evolved into a complex variety of equipment which routinely consists of anything up to ten, fifteen and even twenty, drums and cymbals. However, notwithstanding all of the refinements of modern equipment, a persistent complaint of drummers is that they can never become entirely comfortable with the kit because there is a constant need for adjustment and repositioning of equipment, in pursuit of the ideal set-up.
With each new improvement to equipment, however, the drummer has been able to raise the standard of his performance and technique accordingly. This improvement has played an accompanying major role in the development of each musical genre; the very life blood of the entire music industry.
Today's standard drum kit continues to feature one or two tom-toms mounted above the bass drum, but a slow move away from this standard has taken place during the past decade. Thus new drum hardware now allows the bass drum to be released from its secondary role as a mounting for the tom-tom with the result that drummers are beginning to realize that the bass drum, once the focal point of the drum kit, can now be moved away from its traditional location. There are, anyway, three principle reasons why this movement in desirable:
1. Comfort
The traditional orientation of the foot in relation to the body, when operating the bass drum pedal, is straight ahead. This position of the foot is uncomfortable, and most drummers prefer to have the foot up to 45 degrees off center; to the left for a left handed drummer and to the right for a right handed drummer. Under these circumstances, the bass drum can be as much as 15 to 20 inches to the left or right of the traditional location. PA1 The design of the basic bass drum pedal requires the drummer to move the pedal up and down by means of a heel pivotal action with the heel of the foot on the floor. However, most professional drummers find that they cannot achieve the level of control and power they require using this method. The technique usually adopted is to raise the heel completely off the ground and to move the whole leg up and down, actuating the pedal with the ball or with the front part of the sole of the foot or shoe or shoe covering. In order to do this, it is desirable for the bass drum to be closer to the drummer but even when it is closer, there remains a tendency for the foot of the drummer to slide down the contact surface of the pedal. PA1 Whether the bass drum is used in the traditional way, with the bass drum directly in front of the drummer, or in the preferred way, with the bass drum to the side of the drummer, there will always be limited space within the CPA for any equipment. In either configuration, with the bass drum in front, or moved to the side, but particularly the latter, a compromise in bass drum and tom-tom size may therefore be necessary. In the traditional set-up, with tom-toms attached to the bass drum, the drummer is constrained because, if he moves the bass drum to the right in order to achieve foot comfort, the tom-toms move with it and will then be in the wrong place. PA1 The position of the bass drum is especially important when the kit contains more than two, bass drum-mounted tom-toms. PA1 1. By using an electric motor attached, via a gearbox, to the shaft to which the mallet is attached. The motor is switched on and clockwise, and counterclockwise and off, by means of a foot-switch operated by the drummer. A switching mechanism causes the direction of rotation of the motor to reverse when the foot pedal is alternately pressed down and released. In a variant of such equipment, a spring mechanism causes the driven shaft to return to its rest position, since the drive to the shaft from the motor, becomes disengaged when the motor is switched off. PA1 One major drawback of such methods, however, is that they do not provide the drummer with any feedback and suffer from total lack of control. They do, nevertheless, allow for implementation of "one-shot" control of mallet operation provided vary fast return of the mallet to its rest position, can be implemented. The use of a transducer to monitor the force with which the foot strikes a special transducer linked pad, can be utilized, together with specially designed circuitry, and mechanisms, to allow the power in the foot action to be transmitted to the mallet, remotely. PA1 2. By using an electric servo-motor and gearbox, with a feedback circuit, for driving the shaft to which the mallet is attached, through a specifiable angle of rotation. PA1 The operation of such equipment is based on the general servo-controller principle, where the value of the voltage output from a servo-potentiometer fixed to the shaft holding the mallet driver, is compared with a reference voltage. In this case, the reference voltage is provided by a potentiometer driven by the foot pedal, where the potentiometer itself is supplied with an accurately controlled reference voltage. PA1 The difference between this derived reference voltage and the voltage delivered by the potentiometer driven by the mallet shaft, which is also derived from a reference voltage, is then used for driving the motor until the difference is zero. For equivalent potentiometers, adjustment of the relative sizes of the supply voltage to each potentiometer provides means for controlling the angle through which the servo-motor turns, and hence through which the shaft holding the mallet, turns, for a given rotation of the potentiometer which is driven by the foot pedal. PA1 The pedal mechanism in designed so that movement of the pedal, alternately downwards and upwards, respectively, causes the shaft to which the mallet is attached, to rotate the mallet respectively, towards, and away from, the drum head. This method is described in considerable detail, later. PA1 3. By using a synchronous motor. PA1 4. By using a stepper motor.
2. Technique
3. Space
Happily, because of the greater flexibility in mounting methods, it is now possible to locate tom-toms and indeed all percussion instruments, in almost any conceivable position; however, one unalterable fact is that wherever the bass drum is located, it will occupy space that nothing else can occupy, and being the largest drum, this space is significant.
In general, therefore, with today's more sophisticated bass drum patterns, the drummer needs to have much tighter control over the position of this vital instrument.
As standards and techniques have evolved, many, once tolerated, inadequacies, have been swept away by the superior refinements achieved by modern manufacturers; but not all; if the bass drum could be removed from the CPA, then a whole new world of drumming possibilities would be created.
Because drummers have different physiques, it would be rare to find two drum-kits set up in exactly the same way. Each drummer will thus set up the equipment within the CPA so as to achieve the most convenient and comfortable operation; the main factors being height, reach, and individual playing style. For right-handed drummers, the bass drum is operated by the right foot (and vice versa); some drummers, are right handed while also being left and right footed (and vice versa) and some are both left, and right, handed and footed. The natural angle at which the foot projects from the body is an important factor in setting up the entire drum-kit.
Since the bass drum has to be located immediately in front of the pedal, and since the pedal has to be located where the foot is, the natural inclination of the foot will govern where the bass drum is located. If a drummer had feet which naturally pointed at an angle of, say, 45 deg., to left and right of center, a bass drum placed directly in front of the drummer would be uncomfortable to play and so would need to located at, or near, that 45 deg. position for comfort. Only when the drummer's feet point straight ahead, is it ideal to place the bass drum directly in front of him.
In summary, therefore, one can say that there have been many excellent advances in the equipment which holds and supports the drums and cymbals, so that it is now possible to locate percussion instruments in almost any conceivable position. However, one unalterable factor is that, wherever the bass drum is located, it will occupy space to the exclusion of other equipment and, being the largest drum, this space is significant. In virtually every, drum-kit configuration, tom-toms are mounted above the bass drum. This means that a compromise between bass drum size, and/or tom-tom size, is usually inevitable because of limitations in space and the necessity for the tom-toms to be placed within the limits of the CPA. Currently, the pedal of the pedal-operated bass drum, is operated via the sole of the foot, with the heel sometimes acting as fulcrum, but some drummers prefer to place the base of the foot on the pedal, with the heel off the ground.
One common foot pedal mechanism involves use of a chain connected to a footplate where the chain acts as a puller, such that the chain, on passing over a toothed wheel on a shaft, operates a mallet which is fixed to the same shaft and which is used to beat against the head of the drum. Return of the mallet to its rest position, when the drummer lifts the foot, is implemented by means of return springs fixed to the mechanism. Various means of adjustment are provided for controlling the force with which the mallet strikes the surface of the drum, thereby catering for the individual needs of the drummer.
However, current equipment does not always suit the basic style adopted by many drummers, who prefer to operate the pedal by moving the whole foot up and down, thus relying on the thigh/leg/foot, operating as an actuation mechanism, with no contact with the ground being made by the foot.
Furthermore, the fundamental principle of operation of current equipment outlined above, dictates that the pedal mechanism be placed directly in front of the bass drum and this, in turn, dictates that the bass drum be placed within reach of the foot. Consequently, the drummer is constrained to place the other drum equipment in certain locations.
Drummers who tend to want to place their feet so that they are not parallel with one another but are inclined at various angles, cannot achieve this without placing one bass drum or two bass drums, or one bass drum and one hi-hat, in locations which dictate that other equipment has to be placed in particular locations. There is also a tendency for the foot to slide down the operating plate of the pedal, especially when using a drumming style involving up and down movement of the thigh/leg/foot, with the heel off the ground.
Another feature of present equipment is that the amount of power which can be delivered by the drummer is limited by the characteristics of the mechanism and driven mallet, and by the strength of the drummer.
It is an object of the present invention to at least overcome these limitations and to introduce new methods of operating bass drums per se.